Dustin Hazelett says patience is key in UFC's welterweight division

With his slick first-round submission victory over Tamdan McCrory at this past weekend’s UFC 91 event, UFC welterweight debut Dustin Hazelett picked up his fifth UFC victory in six fights and his second consecutive Submission of the Night bonus.

However, the fighter — who’s now racked up three “fight night” bonuses worth a total of $105,000 over his past two fights — said he is not yet a part of the 170-pound division’s elite.

“You just have to take your time,” the 22-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “A lot of guys try to rush it too quickly, try to climb to climb to the top quickly. I’m taking my time and working on getting better at everything.

“I’m not trying to get to the top the fastest. I’m trying to earn my right to be there.”

Aside from a loss to Tony DeSouza in his UFC debut — a fight he took on short notice — Hazelett (12-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) has been defeated by only one other UFC fighter: perennial contender Josh Koscheck. Hazelett won the first round of their UFC 82 fight, but Koscheck stormed back for a TKO victory in the second.

“I really thought that fight would be my break-out performance,” Hazelett said. “I made some mistakes, though. I learned from them, and I moved on.”

Up next was a fight with “The Ultimate Fighter 2″ cast member Josh Burkman at The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale in June. Hazelett put on a dazzling performance, and that long-awaited breakout performance went as planned. After using a whizzer to transition into a flying armbar, Hazelett forced the tap-out moments later.

The preliminary-card performance, which was streamed for free on UFC.com after the event, netted Hazelett a $20,000 Submission of the Night bonus, as well as a $20,00 Fight of the Night bonus.

However, the ground specialist wasn’t completely satisfied with his stand-up game, which is an area he’s working diligently to improve. So, he found someone built like the 6-foor-4 McCrory who could also force Hazelett to improve for his UFC 91 bout.

“I had been working a lot with Dorian Price on the stand-up,” Hazelett said of the “TUF 6″ cast member. “We worked hard, and he showed me a lot. Some of the things I did really well. Some of them I just didn’t do.

“Like, I saw [McCrory’s] leg kicks coming, and I just stood there and did nothing, kind of like in the Burkman fight when I let him just stand there and punch me in the body. I don’t know why I did it. My stand-up is better than that. I just haven’t shown it yet.”

Hazelett eventually pulled guard and forced the fight to the ground, where he soon secured an omoplata. However, he ultimately forced the submission from a painful armbar that forced McCrory to tap.

Hazelett admits McCrory threw him off his game plan early.

“It was weird,” Hazelett said. “It wasn’t his reach. He just didn’t rush me. I watched his fights, and every single fight of his he just rushed forward, and he didn’t do it (this time). He kind of took me out of my game for a while because I was kind of waiting for him to rush me so I could move and counter.”

So, is that was caused some of those early lulls in action during the fight?

“Yeah, I was waiting for him to come forward, and he probably watched my fights and was waiting for me to come forward,” Hazelett said. “So we both just kind of stood there.”

Despite the obstacles, he got the much-needed victory. And Hazelett, who made the first TV appearance of his seven-fight UFC career, likely assured future main-card placement.

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